Railway-switch.



No. 736,911. PATBNTED AUG. 18, 11903. P. W. ALEY. RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED APB. 8, 1903.

No. esseri.

Patented .August 18, 1903.

PATENT OEEICE.

FRANK w. ALEY, or EL PAso, rrExAs.

R'AlLwAY-swlToi-l.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 736,911, dated August1S, 1903.

Application filed April 8. 1903. Serial No. 151,572. (No model.)

,T0 all whom, 7125 may concern:

, Beit known that I, FRANK lV. ALEY, a citizen of the United States,anda resident of El Paso, in the county of El Paso and State of Texas,have invented new and useful Improvements in Railway- Switches of whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to railway-switches; and it consists,substantially, in the construction, organization, and combination ofparts hereinafter particularlydescribed and claimed.

The invention has for its principal object to overcome'the disadvantagesand inconveniences common to many similar devices hitherto devised, andto provide a device of this kind which is not liable to get out of orderand which is comparatively simple in the construction and organizationof the parts thereof, besides possessing the capacity for long andrepeated service. l

A further object of the invention is to provide a thoroughly effectiverailway-switch and one also in which reliability and safety of operationare distinguishing characters or factors, substantially as willhereinafter more fully appear when taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure lis a plan view representing a railway-switch constructed andoperating in ac? cordance with myinvention. Fig. 2 is a transversesectional view on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;` and Fig. 3 is an enlargeddetail view,'partly in horizontal section, showing a form of-connectionwhich may be employed between an end of each of the switch-rails andwing-rails.

Preliminarily to a more detailed description itmay be stated that in theembodiment of my improvements herein illustrated, I employ a movablefrog-point having its play or range of action in opposite directionshorizontally between adjacent sides of oppositely bent or curved membersat one extremity of a pair of wing-rails, the latter at the otherextremity thereof being practically in alinement with adjacent ends ofthe movable switch-rails, these latter rails and the frogpoint beingmoved or operated simultaneously through the medium of a rod andconnections between the same and the said switch-rails and frog-pint.The `said frog point is of special construction, as are others of theelements or parts employed herein, and while I have herein represented acertain preferred embodiment of my improvements it will be understood,of course, that I am not limited to the precise details thereof inpractice, since im material changes therein may be resorted to comingwithin the scope of my invention.

Specific reference being had to the several parts of the drawings by thedesignating characters marked thereon, 3 and 4 represent wing-railswhich are formed or provided at one extremity thereof with sections 5and 6, which are practically bent or turned` ontwardly from each other,beginning substantially at the point 7 of each of said wingrails, thisconstruction providing aspace between the sections in which thefrog-point 8 has horizontal play and which play is limited in eitherdirection laterally by said 'sections. The said frog-point 8 is securedto or integral with a rail 9, which constitutes a part of the main lineof the railway, and the said wing-rail 4 is coincident or in line withsaid rail 9, (thereby also constituting a part of the main 1ine,) asshown, the said lnain line being finally made up or completed by thestraight or continuous outside rail l0. (See Fig. l.) The space betweenthe sections 5 and 6 of the Wing-rails 3 and 4 not only permits of allnecessary movement of the frog-point in the operation of the switch, butalso enables the natural expansion and contraction thereof to take placewithout in any manner interfering with the proper working of the device,and the ends 1l of the said wing-rails are each in movable connectionwith the adjacent end of one of the switchrails l2 by means of plates 13on opposite sides of the web portions of each of the rails mentioned,said plates being secured by bolts 13, passing through the same and thewebs of said rails and being also of strong material sufficientlyelastic or resilient to operate substantially as a hinge whenever thesaid switchrails are operated in conformity with the main or side lineof the railway. Bolted or otherwise secured at 14 to the said rail 9 isa short railsection 15, the free end of which is beveled in oppositedirections, as indicated at 16 and 17, the latter beveled surface beingadapted to the correspondingly-beveled end 18 of one rail 19 of the sideline of the railway,which side line is completed or made up by thecontinuous outer curved rail 20, as shown. The other end of said shortrail-section 15 is either integral with or adapted to the side ofthefrog-point 8, by which both of these elements will be in compactrelationship to move to one side or the other with the correspondingportion of rail 9, it being here mentioned that this portion of the saidlatter rail is not fastened to the ties, but is practically free to movelaterally, as will hereinafter appear. If desired, the space between therail 9 and rail-section 15 may be filled in with cast-iron or othermaterial to add strength to the structure, and I sometimes employ astrengthening-clamp 22, constructed to connect the said parts, as shown.I also prefer to employ a brace or resistance 23 on the outer side ofthe said rail 9, which also gives strength and security.

The beveled surface 16 of the end of the rail-section 15 tends toprevent derailment of a car or train passing over the railway in aright-hand direction in Fig. 1, and located at a suitable point withinthe said outer rail 2O is an ordinary guard-rail 25, which is for thepurpose of preventing undue lateral strain being thrown orimposed uponthe frog-point and other parts in the passing of trains over or upon therails of the side line.

Located beneath the frog-point and the sections 5 and 6 of thewing-rails 3 and 4 is a bedplate 26, which is secured at differentpoints 27 to appropriate ones of the ties 28 and which furnishes an evenworking surface for the main portions of the principal movable parts ofthe structure, as is apparent.

Any suitable means may be resorted to for simultaneously operating thefrog-point and switch-rails; but I preferably employ herein a rod 29,having thereon a slidable section 28a, actuated by a spring 29, havingbearings at the ends between ears a a and centrally in a pin 29b in therod 29, the inner end of which section is movably connected at 30 to thefrog-point, while the outer end of the rod 29 is in similar connectionwith the arm 31 of a bell-crank lever pivoted at 32 on a suitable base33 therefor, the arm 34 of said lever being also in movable connectionat 35 with one end of a connecting-rod 36, the other end of which ismovably connected at 37 to the arm 38 of a similarly-disposed bell-cranklever pivoted at 39 on a base 40 therefor and having its other arm 41 inmovable connection at 42 with the outer end of a rod 43, the innerportion of which is connected at the points 44 to the said switch-rails12. About centrally of the length of the connecting-rod 36vis located anoperating hand-lever 45, movably mounted at 46 on a base 47, forming thebearing thereof, said hand-lever having movable connection with saidconnecting-rod at 48, as by means of a crank or wrist pin, for instance,and from the construction and organization of parts set forth it isapparent that by suitably manipulating said hand-lever 45 the frog-pointand switch-rails will be actuated in the manner and for the purposehereinbefore explained.

The slidable spring-actuated section 28"L on the rod 29 may be dispensedwith in some instances, in which case the rod itself will he extendedand movably connected to the frogpoint; but by means ofthe embodimentshown an elastic or yielding action is derived in conformity withlateral strains imposed upon the connections in the passing of trainsover the rails, and particularly when passing over thecorrespondingly-beveled ends of the section 15 and rail 19.,

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. In a railway-switch, a pair of wing-railsconstructed at one end with sections turned outwardly from each other,thereby forming a space between them, and a frog-point working in suchspace, and rigidly united both with a movable portion of one of therails of the main line and an independent movable section forming partof one of the rails of the side line. A

2. In a railway-switch, a pair of wing-rails constructed at one end withsections turned outwardly from each other, thereby forming a spacebetween them, a frog-point working in such space, and rigid with amovable p01- tion of one of the rails of the main line and anindependent movable rail-section forming part of one of the rails of theside line, said latter section being reversely beveled at the free endthereof, as and for the purpose de scribed.

3. In a railway-switch, a pair of wing-rails constructed at one end withsections turned outwardly or away from each other, thereby forming aspace between them, a frog-point working in such space, and rigidlyunited .with a'movable portion of one of the rails of the main line, andan independentvmovable section forming part of one of the rails of theside line, and also rigid with the frog-point, and means for connectingthis movable section with said movable portion of the mainline rail.

4. In a railway-switch, a pair of' wing-rails constructed at one endwith sections turned outwardly or away from each other, thereby forminga space between them, switch-rails, a frog-point working in such space,and rigidly united with a movable portion of one of the rails ofthe mainline, and an independent movable section forming part of one of therails of the side line, and also rigid with the frog-point, means forconnecting this movable section with said movable portion of themain-line rail, and operating connections between the switch-rails andfrogpoint.

5. In a railway-switch, a pair of wing-rails IOO constructed at one endwith sections turned outwardly or away from each other, thereby forminga space between them, switch-rails, a frog-point working in such space,and rigidly united with a movable portion of one of the rails of themain line, and an independent movable section forming part of one of therails of the side line, and also rigid with the frog-point, means forconnecting this movable section with said movable portion of themain-line rail, and operating connections between the switch-rails andfrog-point, adjacent ends of the said wing-rails and switchrails beingunited by a hinge-like connection.

In testimony whereof I have signed my I5 name to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK W. IALEY.

Witnesses:

WM. G. GEGGUs, CORNELIUS E. VAN HOUTEN.

